Regret
by juniorvaristy
Summary: Ephram Brown is a normal teenager who makes mistakes. One day, he makes more than one, but he might not ever get the chance to say he's sorry. Please Review!
1. Colin

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters…unfortunately.

**Author's Note: **I know I have a slash story with Ephram and Wendell, but I didn't like it.  Don't worry another Ephram/Wendell story will be coming at you because I'm not giving up on it.

**Time Frame: **Right after Fear Itself and right before Home. It's one of those inter-phase times. Except Home never happens. Get it? Okay. 

**Chapter One: Colin**

            My sister came home from her date with my friend Ephram pretty early. I was sitting around at home, flipping channels on TV, finally settling on Nickelodeon. Amy, my girlfriend, had been over, but she left in a huff when I wanted to talk about Ephram and Laynie, my sister. All I wanted to know was what she thought of them getting together. Obviously I said the wrong thing because she left in a huff.

            "Why are _you_ home?" I asked Laynie, eyes still glued to Spongebob, not understanding what Bright found so appealing about a yellow sponge that could talk. 

            "That's great Colin, I love you too." She snapped sarcastically.

            "Sorry. I just expected you to be out longer with Ephram."

            She sighed at the mention of my New York friend.

            "What's up?" I turned to her, confused.

            "I hate that stupid asshole of a guy!"

            "Ephram? Ephram Brown?"

            "What other Ephram do you know? I never want to see him again!" This got my attention. I shut the TV off and adjusted my sling a little so that I would be in a comfortable position. 

            "Do you want to talk about it?"

            "No."

            "Okay," I said easily shifting my gaze from my sister to the window. It was already pitch black out and the only light I could see was the faint porch light down the street. The house, the school, the whole town, was still a little unfamiliar to me. I supposedly grew up in this town; never left it until I went to Denver and got myself into that coma. The coma that caused everything. The coma that left me in a situation like this. Maybe if the coma never happened, Amy wouldn't have gotten mad at me that night. _'What does that have to do with anything? You're over-stressing,'_ I told myself. 

            "So where's Amy? I thought she was over here. I was expecting some kissing when I walked in through the door!" I jumped at the sound of Laynie's voice. I had almost forgotten she was there. 

            "She left," I muttered, "Didn't want to be here."

            "Things not going well in paradise?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

            "If this is paradise," I stated with a slight annoyance, "Then I would hate to see what hell is like."

            "That good, huh?"

            "I don't really want to talk about it right now, Laynie."

            "That's cool. We can watch Spongebob together like the losers that we are then."

            "Hey, Spongebob isn't loser-ish. It's Bright's favorite TV show," I jumped to my best friend's defense. Laynie raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

            "Doesn't that tell you something?" I rolled my eyes and took a pillow with my available hand, smacking her in the face with it. 

            "Hey!" She grabbed another pillow and playfully smacked my leg. We looked at each other for a minute before breaking into hysterical fits of laughter. We spent the rest of the night on the couch flipping channels, sinking lower into the tunnel of heartbreak and fell asleep there. 

            The next morning, I headed over to the Brown's place. It got me away from my own love problem plus Ephram lived there. And he was always good at listening. Come to think of it, he never really talked. I shrugged, letting out a puff of cold air. The Browns weren't as bad as Dr. Abbott made them out to be. Dr. Brown was a really nice guy, though I admit he gets a little overdramatic about some of my health issues, not that he wasn't right most of the time. The little sister…Dana or Delia or something like that. She was a cute one who apparently had a major crush on Bright. Surprisingly, Bright humored her most of the time and claimed that she was, "The only normal one in the family." Ephram wasn't normal, I agreed that much with Bright. But he wasn't abnormal. He'd gone through things that fifteen year olds don't usually put up with. What with losing his mother and his father, who had never been there before, suddenly up-rooting the family and plopping them in Everwood. Why he chose Everwood, I still do not know. 

            "Hey Colin," Eprham opened the door when I knocked. He did not look good. 

            "Hey man, what's up?" I asked nicely, stepping into the house and shrugging my jacket off.

            "Just sitting around. Where's Amy? I thought you'd be out with her today."

            "Yeah well it seems as if I'm not. We fought last night and I don't exactly know what I did and I don't know what to apologize for."

            "Must have been 'Bad Love Day' yesterday."        

            "Yeah, hey, Laynie told me you guys broke up? Are you alright?"

            "I'll be fine."

            "You sure?"

            "I'm sure." But he didn't look very convincing. For one thing, he didn't look as if he got any sleep at all. I stared at him intensely, hoping to find a hint of weakness. If I knew one thing about Ephram Brown, I knew that he didn't like to show that he needed help. He didn't like people to know he needed a hand. Still, every time I saw him, I searched for it because I knew that he _did_ have a great fear. A fear of something that was still a mystery to all the residents in Everwood, including his own family. Even during the six months or so that he'd been living in Everwood, nobody had been able to figure much out about Ephram Brown. Except that he was a cynical rebellious teenager from New York City. 

            "Ephram? I'm not done talking to you yet, don't you think I am!" Dr. Brown's voice was heard through the halls.

            "Sorry, is this a bad time?" I asked taking a step back, putting my jacket back on. He nodded gravely.

            "Yeah, the Great Doctor Brown is in the middle of a lecture. Thanks, by the way," he smiled sarcastically, "I'll look for you when he's finished. In other words, I'll see you in school on Monday." I laughed a little.

            "Alright, good luck man. I'll see you!" I retreated down the front steps of the Brown house, totally unaware of what was going to happen. If I'd known, I'd stuck around outside waiting. But it never happens that way. 

**Please review! I know it's kind of…bad right now, but it'll get better. I promise!!**

**~Melody**


	2. Ephram

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters…unfortunately.

**Author's Note: **I know I have a slash story with Ephram and Wendell, but I didn't like it.  Don't worry another Ephram/Wendell story will be coming at you because I'm not giving up on it.

**Time Frame: **Right after Fear Itself and right before Home. It's one of those inter-phase times. Except Home never happens. Get it? Okay. 

**The song is copyrighted by 12 Stones and their management. Yay 12 Stones!**

**Chapter Two: Ephram**

"Okay, Ephram. No big deal. So you screwed up again with yet another girl. What else is new? It's not such a bad thing," I told myself over and over again. As much as I tried to, I couldn't stop that feeling of heartbreak. Again. I thought I loved Amy, only to be run down by her. When I met Laynie, I thought I loved her too. At least until Valentine's Day. Then I _knew_ I loved her. And this time, I'd had the chance to ask her out. And she'd accepted. And I screwed up. Again. I seemed to be really good at doing that lately. 

            As I bent down to lock my bike on Monday, Colin approached me. He'd come over to my house on Saturday and from the looks of it, he and Amy were in another lover's quarrel. Only this time, Colin had no idea what they were fighting about, which probably made Amy madder. Lucky for me, I had been in the middle of a lecture from my dad. Usually, I didn't take that kind of crap from my dad, but I wasn't in the mood so I let him yell at me and tell me how worthless I was. When the doorbell rang, I felt as though I could kiss whoever it was a million times, but I didn't since it was Colin and Amy often got this territorial thing over him. 

            "Hey, what's up?" he nodded at me. I straightened up and gave him a small smile.

            "Hey. Amy still mad at you?"

            "How'd you know?"

            "Because you never come up to me at the bike rack."

            "Oh," he looked defeated and honestly, I felt bad for him, "So how are you holding up?"

            "Oh that. Well I could be better, but that's nothing different. It's no big change of mood for Ephram Brown." 

            "Hey don't say that."

            "It's true. What about you? Are you okay?"

            "I can't say I've been better because I don't really remember. But I'm pretty sure I have." We chuckled for a moment about that as we walked into the school building together.

            "Well have you talked to Amy?"

            "I tried, but every time I got near her, she'd give me this cold look." I nodded. I knew how that felt. We stopped at my locker where I stuffed books into my bag, some of which I wasn't even sure were mine. They could have been Wendell's since I was keeping some in my locker for him. If you asked me why, I wouldn't be able to tell you- I forgot. 

            I wish I could remember what happened right after school more clearly, but it was all a bit of a blur for me. I was on my bike and I was ready to go home when out of nowhere, I saw Laynie. I decided that just because we broke up, it didn't mean that we couldn't be friends. What better way to help ease the pain of heartbreak than maintaining the friendship. Obviously, I wasn't thinking straight (when am I ever?) because that's what I thought when the whole situation with Amy happened as well. So anyway I biked up to Laynie and said hi. She stared at me as I attempted to make conversation with her. Mission not accomplished. She started yelling at me, throwing words that pierced my heart, each phrase dropping into the crevice that was already there, ripping it into an open wound. I don't recall what she said exactly but I know that I biked away hurriedly, hoping that she hadn't seen the tears in my eyes. 

            "I HATE YOU EPHRAM BROWN!!" she yelled after me. I didn't turn around. Instead, I whispered to myself.

            "Well I love you, Laynie Hart." As soon as I reached my driveway, I threw my bike into the garage with hopes that I didn't cause too much damage and ran up to my room. Slamming the door behind me, I let the tears fall. The warmth of the streams falling down my face did nothing to comfort me. If anything, they made me feel even worse. I jammed my headphones on, pressing them into my ear and pressed play. I didn't even know what was in there before I pressed it. 12 Stones rocked in my ears and I turned the volume up to try and block out everything around me. 

_Alone again again alone  
Patiently waiting by the phone  
Hoping that you will call me home  
The pain inside my love denied  
Hopes and dreams swallowed by pride  
Everything I need it lies in you_

            It seemed to me that everything I did, everywhere I went, I was alone. When I was in New York, I was the only one of my friends who had a passion for music. I was the only one who knew what it felt like to 'be in my element'. When I left New York, I was leaving behind my life. My mother, my friends, my piano recitals, my school, everything. It was like no one cared. My father had _bribed my little sister to go along and I had no say in the matter. When I got to Everwood, I fell in love, only to feel love slap me in the face. And again, I was alone. After Amy, I was with Laynie. And I thought, 'Wow. I'm not alone anymore.' But then she dumped me. And I was alone again. Maybe I was supposed to be alone all my life. Maybe this was the miserable life I was destined to lead._

_'Cause I'm broken   
I know I need you now  
'Cause deep inside I'm broken   
You see the way I live  
I know I know your heart is broken  
When I turn away  
I need to be broken  
Take the pain away_

            I was a broken fool. A fool that let himself loved, thinking he'd be loved. But I wasn't loved; I only thought I was loved and even that lasted for only two weeks. I was a broken fool. 

_I question why you chose to die  
When you knew your truth I would deny  
You look at me  
The tears begin to fall  
And all in all faith is blind  
But I fail time after time  
Daily in my sin I take your life_

I cried when Laynie left me. I cried when Amy left me. But both of them had stood there, watching me with stony expressions on their faces. They looked like they played with my feelings, played with my heart, on purpose. Like they meant for it to happen. And even though I used to have the tiniest bit of hope in faith, it was still something. I believed in it when I asked Katherine out back in New York and I even believed in it when I came to Everwood. But everything was different. I'd lost faith in faith. 

_'Cause I'm broken   
I know I need you now  
'Cause deep inside I'm broken   
You see the way I live  
I know I know your heart is broken  
When I turn away  
I need to be broken  
Take the pain away_

            I was a broken bastard. A blind bastard too blind to see what everyone else saw as obvious. I was totally oblivious to the inevitable and now I paid the price. I was a broken bastard.

_All the hate deep inside  
Slowly covering my eyes  
All these things I hide  
Away from you again  
All this fear holding me  
My heart is cold and I believe  
Nothing's gonna change  
Until I'm broken_

Nothing was ever going to change for me and it took me a damn long time to realize that. I was Ephram Brown: King of all that went wrong. And that was the way it was going to be for me. Forever and always. At least it was until I was broken. Broken into a million pieces by people who didn't care. 

**Please review!!!**

**Thanks to those who did review:**

**Gator-Girl: **Nope, Andy's not going to hurt Ephram. Just wait a little longer and you'll see where this is going.

**Maria Christina: **Of course there's going to be more! I wouldn't just leave you like that, would I? Oh and thanks about the slash fic thing. I don't write slash often, although I find it very intriguing. Don't ask me why, it's just me.

**Kellyerielf: ***gasp* YOU TOO?!? Oh my gosh! I think I said this in my other one, though I'm delirious right now because I managed to finish this chapter. =D Anyway, thanks a lot! Yes I know that you're a slashaholic and I'm trying very hard to make my slash Everwood fic as interesting as my MD one. Sorry if it isn't!

**Blatty: **Aww dammit! Sorry about stealing the title. I was _sure you wouldn't catch me. But who would've thunk that you read Everwood fic too? Oh well, thanks for reading! _

**Curlymonic1215: **Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Jess: **I wouldn't worry about him killing Doctor Brown or anything like that. It's really something else. But you'll have to wait and see, won't you?

**Christie: **I, well,uh…I hope this is soon enough =D

**Riley: **Well you'll have to read and see, huh? =D

**Kate74: **I'm glad I reeled you in, thanks for reading!


	3. Amy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters…unfortunately.

**Author's Note: **Some of you have been asking so I'll tell you here: I have an Everwood slash up right now. It's the same pairing as my old one. The title is What Makes You Different.__

**Time Frame: **Right after Fear Itself and right before Home. It's one of those inter-phase times. Except Home never happens. Get it? Okay. 

**Amy**

Laynie and Ephram were both in really bad shape. They each had a different way of dealing with their initial heartbreak. Laynie bottled everything that was bothering up inside and chose to direct all her anger towards Ephram. Ephram plainly let his emotions out for the world to see. He really liked Laynie and I still have no idea what happened between them that night, but it was tearing both of them apart. Personally, I thought that Eprham's way of dealing with the break-up was a lot better than Laynie's way. 

            "Hey Amy?" Colin's hand was on my shoulder. I jumped and scowled at him before moving away towards the metal post beside me. We'd gotten into a fight the night before. I just didn't think it was very fair that, every time I brought Ephram up, Colin would get jealous. And then I wasn't supposed to get mad when _he_ brought Ephram and Laynie up. Besides, it was our anniversary, not that I'd expected him to remember anyway. But he could've at least given me the chance to tell him.

            "Amy, please! Can we just talk?" Colin pleaded taking a step closer to me. I glared at him before turning around to find Bright. I really needed a ride home. Now. Colin didn't come after me and I'm glad he didn't either.

            I found my brother sitting on the steps to the school, staring into space. I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the parking lot, telling him that we needed to leave at that very second.  He followed me, probably confused, but knowing not to say a word until we reached the car. Very smart on his part; maybe I don't give Bright enough credit for knowing me as well as he does. 

            "What's the rush, Amy?" he asked starting up the car and backing out of the parking space. 

            "Your so called best friend is the rush." I huffed. Bright was obviously confused but chose not to say anything more. We sat in silence for five minutes before Bright spoke again.

            "Do you want to talk about it?" 

            "No," I huffed, closing the subject matter.

            "Well I'm here to listen anytime you need to," he offered. I tore my eyes away from the window and slowly turned to stare at him. Did I just hear words of compassion come out of my brother's mouth? In all my life, my brother had never said more than three words of comfort to me. Bright probably felt my stare because he turned his head and met my eyes. He jumped a little.

            "Geez, Amy! What are you trying to do; give me a heart-attack?!"

            "You can't have a heart-attack at your age, genius."

            "Stop looking at me like that."

            I paused and smiled, "Thanks Bright." And I turned back to the all too familiar passing scenery. Bright didn't say anything, but I knew that he knew what I was talking about. I could just feel it. 

*~*

            "What do you want, punk?" I heard my brother's voice in the entrance hall. From the way he was speaking, I knew it could only be one person. Ephram Brown. To say that Ephram and Bright didn't get along would be the understatement of the millenniums.  I sighed, throwing down the knife I was holding and put away the peanut butter. Time to go break up the argument. I headed towards my living room with intentions of putting an end to whatever verbal disagreement the two boys were engaged in. I got much more than I ever bargained for. 

            "Shut up Bright," Ephram was saying with intense anger, "What kind of future are you going for anyway? The University of Football or something? Oh yeah, real impressive."

            Bright clenched his fist and gritted his teeth before responding just as fiercely, "Yeah well even Laynie doesn't want to see you and she doesn't even stay in town much. She _dumped you man! The only reason why you're still around is because of your stupid dad!" That was it. That was the trigger. Ephram lunged at my brother, fists flying. But Bright wasn't unprepared. He trashed right back at him. For a second, I was too shocked, trying to register what was going on in front of me. Suddenly I snapped out of it and started yelling at them._

            "Ephram! Bright! Stop it! You guys are going to hurt each other!" I screamed while lugging each one apart from the other. It wasn't easy considering they were both bigger than me and both resisting me. Finally, with much struggle, I separated them and stood in between the two boys. 

            "What the hell is wrong with you two!?" I screamed at them, "Bright! He's younger than you, smaller than you! You could've _killed_ him! And what was with that crude comment?! He just broke-up with someone, don't you think he's hurting at all? And you," I turned to Ephram, "Don't you dare say that to him ever again! He's smart enough to get into college and he will get in! His SAT scores weren't that bad at all! Lay off of him! Have you no compassion?!" I took a good look at each boy. They both had black eyes and bruises on their cheeks. I'm not sure what else they did to each other, but I didn't care. I stormed away and soon, I heard the door slam and I knew Ephram was gone. 

            Almost immediately I felt terrible for making the comments I made to both Bright and Ephram. I even went as far back as Colin. Why was everything going wrong this week? 

**Thanks for the reviews:**

**Drama-Duchess: **Yeah, well Ephram angst is my kind of story. Thanks for reviewing. Oh and I put up a different slash story with the same pairing. My other one was getting really weird and it was going too fast and stuff. But the title of my E'wood slash is _What Makes You Different._

**Hjordis: **Thanks, I'm usually horrible at characterizations.  It's not a slash story. There's actually no real romance. I mean there's romance, but the story doesn't revolve around it. You'll see. 

**Kellyerielf: **It'll get worse, I hate to tell you that. But actually, it's not a real het fic. I mean, there's het pairings, but the story doesn't really revolve around the love. You'll see. Thanks for reviewing!

**Blatty: **You're awesome-er. Lol does that even make sense?

**Maria-Christina: **Thanks for reading it!

**Jess: **Nah, no suicide. But something bad does happen in the next chapter. 

**Riley: **Sorry it wasn't sooner…

**Curlymonic1215: **Yeah, he sort of regrets being with them and falling in love with them. But that's not why the story's called Regret. You'll see.

**Please review!**


	4. Ephram

**Ephram**

            My dad was not a happy man when I walked through the door bearing multiple bruises as a gift from my best friend, Bright Abbott. My face was swollen to twice its normal size, I was pretty sure, and my back ached from being pushed against the foyer of the Abbott home, a place I dared not go back to. 

            "Ephram Brown! Where the hell have you been? When I say you're grounded, it _means you're grounded! And what happened to your face?" my father stood in the middle of the living, rooted to the spot while I stared him down on the stairs. _

            "I hope you're happy I had the worst week of my life."

            "That's your own fault," he shot back, "If you'd come home like you were supposed to, you wouldn't have gotten into a fight."

            "It wasn't a fight. It was Bright Abbott!"

            "What were you doing over at the Abbott's anyway?"

            I ran up to my room and slammed the door behind me. I was seriously in the wrong mood to be lectured. Obviously, ever-miraculous Andy Brown didn't think so. 

            "I'm not don't with you young man! Just because Laynie Hart broke up with you doesn't give you the right to act like an ass. You broke curfew so you're punished. You do something you know is wrong and you know there are consequences. That's how it was in New York! It's no different here in Everwood. Dammit, Ephram you're almost sixteen! Act like it!"

            "Fuck you," I retorted. My insides turned to a chunk of ice when my father mentioned Laynie. And they really hit me hard hen my dad said I was being a baby. Just not in so many words.

            "Don't talk to me like that, young man!"

            "Since when do you care?!" I exploded in his face, "For 15 years you never acted like a parent. The only person that was a part of my parental unit was mom! You don't even know what happened with Laynie and you definitely don't have a clue about why I was at the Abbott's. You never bothered to find out how I got grounded in New York or that I only got grounded once. What gives you the right to ground me when you have no idea what the hell I'm going through? And what gives you the right to tell what I'm acting like?! You think I give a damn about what you say? New flash: I don't." 

            "If you don't give a damn about what I'm saying, then I don't' have to give a damn about your life," he told me in a menacingly low tone.

            "Is that a promise?"

            "Yes."

            "I hope you're not lying." My father just stood there and looked at me and I turned to face the wall, "Go away." And he did. I debated on calling Colin Hart. He seemed to be the only person in the world that would talk to me without looked disgusted.

            "Ephram, look!" Delia rushed up to me when I exited my room in search of the cordless phone.

            "Get the hell out of my way!" I snapped at her, picking up the phone. She looked at me with big brown eyes and sniffed.

            "Fine." She ran away. I felt bad, yes, but I didn't want to deal with it at the moment. I dialed the Hart's number, closing my door gently.

            "Hello?" Colin, thankfully, picked up.

            "Hey."

            "Ephram? Bright told me what happened. Are you okay?"

            "Yeah…I'm fine."

            "You should see what you did to Bright," Colin laughed, "It'll be the talk of school for awhile."

            "That should be fun. Let's trade information. My bruise is a pretty violet, what about Bright?"

            Colin laughed again, "Why were you over there anyway?"

            I was silent for a second before I replied, "I was going to see Amy. You looked so miserable today it made me sick. So I went over there to see what exaclty you did wrong." 

            "Man, you didn't have to do that."

            "I never got around to it. She's mad at me now too."

            "Thanks though…what's up?"

            "My dad. But what else is new?"

            "What happened?"

            "Big fight. I need to get out of this freaking house."

            "Aren't you grounded man?"

            "Yeah, but that's never stopped me before has it?"

            "Ephram…I don't think that's such a great idea…" 

            "You have no idea how bad it is. I accidentally snapped at Delia and I've never_, ever done that to her no matter how pissed off I'd been at my dad."_

            Colin took in a sharp breath,"You can come over here, just don't get caught and don't let Laynie see you. She might call your dad on you."

            I threw back a bitter laugh, "Sure thing." We hung-up and I paced the room a few times before I made my final decision. I didn't care anymore, I just needed to get out and if I got caught, I didn't give a fuck either. Quietly, I opened my window wide enough so that I would fit through. I'd done this enough times before that it really shouldn't have been a problem. Still I had this instinct that I was burying myself into deeper shit than I needed to be in. 

            "Ephram, stop being such a chicken shit and go," I muttered to myself. Slowly, I clambered onto the tree branch right outside my window and checked to make sure that my dad and Delia were out of sight. When I was positive that they were, I climbed down to the ground. Blind anger, that's what it was. And that's what propelled my legs away from my house. I don't think I'd ever been that angry in my life. Just as I was about a block away from Colin's house, I saw Bright Abbott. 

            "Oh great, this is just what I need," I said out loud. 

            Bright rolled his eyes, not looking much happier than I was, "Don't think I'm happy either." 

            "Fuck off." I took off again, running this time. Without looking, I raced into the street only a few doors away from Colin's. 

            "EPHRAM LOOK OUT!!" I heard Bright scream. When I turned, the mass of metal hit my body with a full force. I flew over the car that was now screeching to halt and landed only a few feet away from Bright. The pain I felt couldn't be described everything was a blur. The last thing I saw was my own blood before I sank into darkness. 

**Thanks for the reviews:**

**Fallinrain7: **It changes every chapter. It'll say though. This one was Ephram's and the last one was Amy's. Look for it at the top. It'll say the narrarator's name at the top of every chapter. 

**Blatty: **If I could think of something better than –est, I would apply it to you. =D But thanks for reviewing!

**Wisk8r: **They'll fight later on. Much later on, but they'll fight. =D

**Please review!**


	5. Bright

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters…unfortunately.

**Author's Note: **Some of you have been asking so I'll tell you here: I have an Everwood slash up right now. It's the same pairing as my old one. The title is What Makes You Different.__

**Time Frame: **Right after Fear Itself and right before Home. It's one of those inter-phase times. Except Home never happens. Get it? Okay. 

**Bright**

            "EPHRAM!!!" I screamed as the red sports car came speeding down the street right towards him. He turned, a second to late, horror written all over his face. The driver of the car slammed the brakes, causing them to screech. It wasn't enough, though. The sight of Ephram's body being thrown through the air like a rag doll was enough to make me hurl. 

            "Ephram!" I ran over to the still body, hoping that he was still alive. Gently I checked for a pulse, relieved to find that he still had one. It was faint, but it was still there; he was barely alive. I reached into my jacket pocket to grab my cell phone, but it wasn't there. _'Duh, Bright. Why would you bring your cell phone while taking out the garbage?'_ But I couldn't just leave him there alone to get help. And then I realized. For the first time, I realized that the bastard that hit him was gone. It was a hit and run and I probably could've stopped it. I saw the car coming, but I didn't bother to say anything until it was only ten feet away. 

            "Bright why the hell does it take you…holy shit! What happened?!" Amy screamed from the door. I rubbed my temples, trying to think about what to do.

            "Amy, just call 9-1-1 and get dad! I'll explain it later, hurry!" I blurted out panic setting in for the first time in a long time. My sister obliged, racing into the house without hesitation. A few seconds later, my father came running out of the house and skidded to a stop next to Ephram. Gently pushing me out of the way, he took his pulse and tried to stop the bleeding. Other than that, there was nothing else to do. 

            "Bright, call the Browns and tell them to meet us in Denver," he instructed me. He didn't have to ask me twice. I grabbed the phone from the cradle and dialed the Browns number. This wasn't going to easy. 

            "Hello?" Delia's little voice came over the phone. 

            "Hey, Delia? It's Bright Abbott," I said quickly into the receiver.

            "BRIGHT!"

            "How are you?" Without waiting for a response I continued, "Listen, is your dad around? I really need to talk to him. Now." I hoped there wasn't too much anxiety in my voice. I didn't need to get the little nine-year-old upset. At least not yet anyway. 

            "Okay," she sounded slightly confused, not that I would blame her, "Hold on." After a few seconds of silence and a faint yelling the back, the phone was picked up again.

            "Bright?" Dr. Brown's perplexed voice came over the phone.

            "Hi Dr. Brown. You have to meet my dad at the hospital up in Denver," I told him as bluntly as possible.

            "What? What's going on?"

            "Something's happened to Ephram. He was hit by a car down the block from my house and-" He cut me off there.

            "Ephram was _what_?"

            "Hit by a car, Dr. Brown."

            "Is this a joke?"

            "No sir. An ambulance is coming for him now and my dad said to meet him in Denver."

            "Wait, Bright. Tell me the whole story first."

            "Well you see," I took in a deep breath, "I was taking out the garbage and then I see Ephram. We exchange words and he's going to cross the street when I see this sports car racing down the street. I yell his name, he turns around, and his body is thrown through the air," I finished uneasily, flinching at the memory of the sight. 

            "But…but…" Dr. Brown seemed to be at a loss of words, "He wasn't supposed to be out of the house!" he exploded in my ear. I held the receiver a few feet away from my ear. Maybe he _did_ have words to say.

            "Um…well…you're still coming to Denver right? He's still alive, but barely."

            "Yes. I'll be there, thank you Bright." He hung-up. I gently put the phone back on the cradle and stood there, blinking a few times. Finally shaking my head, I raced out the door to see if the ambulance had arrived yet. It had and it left already too. All I saw was Amy pacing back and forth on our front lawn talking to herself or something.

            "Amy?" I approached her quietly. I learned over the years that when dealing with my sister, especially if she was angry or upset, one had to take extreme caution. 

            "If he was a little more careful, Bright," she spun around to face me, "just a little more careful this wouldn't have happened. Why didn't he bother to look both ways before crossing the street?" 

            "He was probably pissed off at his dad," I shrugged putting both hands on Amy's shoulders and steering her inside. As we headed towards the front door, Colin came strolling down the block.

            "Hey, man," I nodded to him, slapping him high five. 

            "Hey," he said then indicating the skid marks on the street, "What happened?"

            "Someone just got hit by a car."

            His eyes widened, "Who?"

            "Ephram Br-"

            "EPHRAM?!" What was with people cutting me off today anyway? 

            "They took him to Denver," Amy sniffled from beside me. I'd forgotten that she was there. Apparently, she and Colin had a lover's quarrel and from Colin's point of view, he didn't know what he did wrong. But I knew why she was so upset. It wasn't anything to do with what Colin did or said; it was just the time of year when I knew she'd be upset. Their anniversary. Colin glanced at her a little guiltily before turning away and walking down the street.

            "I'll see you both later," he muttered as he walked away. I looked at my sister and shrugged. She broke down in my arms. 

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Pedellea: **Thanks, suspense has never really been one of my finer points. But thanks!

**Kate: **I wouldn't worry _too_ much about him =D

**Christina: **Thanks. I had the most fun writing them.

**Blatty: **HI!!!!! What's up with your stories? WHERE ARE THEY?! =D

**Wisk8er: **Thanks for the review!

**Luvcarter: **Did you honestly think I was going to end the story right there? =D

**Snoopy: **LOL!!! I knew what you meant, nobody would want Ephram's pain on _purpose everyone knows that =D_

**Riley: **I'll try to update more frequently, but it's getting hard with the piling school work.

**Jess: **He won't die, it's okay.

**Life's Scar: **hehe, I'm always too lazy to push the button, which is why the login is on the favorites list, hehe. Dreaming about Ephram is not a bad idea at all. I had this awesome dream about Bright the other night…*sigh*

**Please review!**


	6. Colin

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters…unfortunately.

**Author's Note: **I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!!!__

**Time Frame: **Right after Fear Itself and right before Home. It's one of those inter-phase times. Except Home never happens. Get it? Okay. 

**Colin**

_Friday, __9:54 PM___

_            Ephram got hit by a car. How did he get hit by a car? Dumb question, Colin. Real dumb question. He was pissed off at his dad. He wanted to get out so he was coming over to my house. And he got hit by a car. If only I had been able to convince him to stay in his house, this wouldn't have happened. But I know that by placing blame on myself, I'm not going to do anything except make things worse; I learned from personal experience, if you know what I mean. _

_            Ever since I woke-up from the coma I was tragically in, it was as if I were an ancient porcelain doll that no one dared to touch. Even if I didn't remember what happened in my life before the accident, I knew that people were treating me very differently and I hated it. Why couldn't they understand that in order for me to recuperate properly, I needed to be treated like I'd been treated before? Anyway, I digress. _

_            Dr. Abbott and the Browns are heading over to __Denver__ right now and everyone else…well, we're just really worried about Ephram. Even Bright. You should have seen him, journal. His face was all white and he was shaking. Amy was in tears and me? I'm just shocked. Ephram got hit by a car. I guess I should go tell Laynie, though I doubt she'll listen after I say his name. Wish me luck, I'll definitely need it._

            I sighed, walking down the stairs of my house, finding Laynie in the living room watching TV. I hadn't spoken to her since I came back from the Abbotts. I didn't know what to tell her. Contrary to what she thought she felt, I knew she'd be worried about Ephram and I knew she probably still liked him. 

            "Hey Laynie?" I asked her cautiously.

            "Yeah?"

            "Ephram got hit by a car," I said bluntly, "I thought you'd want to know."

            "I don't…wait. What? He got hit by a car?" she jumped out of her seat and faced me. I nodded solemnly and started to tell her what Bright told me; about the skid marks I saw on the street near the Abbott home. As each second passed, Laynie's eyes grew wider and her features tensed. By the end of my story, she grabbed my arm, dragging me to the door. We practically toppled on top of each other since I didn't have my other arm to balance myself.

            "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where the hell do you think you're dragging me to?" I demanded, getting up and brushing myself off before helping my sister up. 

            "To Denver, where do you think? Now come on, get your keys and let's go!"

            "Laynie," I put my hand on her shoulders and forced her to calm down, "First of all, you're mad at him remember? You said you don't care about him. Second of all, we're _not driving up to Denver at this hour of the night. We'll drive up there tomorrow morning because I know for a fact that we aren't going to be much help if we go now. Not to mention I can't drive with one arm."_

            "But Colin, I _do care," she sighed and leaned against the frame of our foyer in the way that Laynie does, "We had a little fight and I claimed it was over. I saw the heartbreak in his eyes, I'm not that dumb. I refused to do anything about it because I'm stubborn like that."_

            "You shouldn't be telling me this."

            "I know, but I can't tell Ephram if we're still in Everwood and he's in Denver!"

            "Laynie. He's in Denver, yes, but he's unconscious."

            "It doesn't matter," she looked at me with glassy eyes and a pleading face. I groaned. It was going to be a long night.

            "Let's go over to Bright's," I muttered, "I can't drive, but he can." Laynie jumped up and scribbled a quick note to our parents, promising that we'd call later on and explain before grabbing my arm once again and dragging me out the door. It was freezing outside. Maybe it was just the sinking feeling in my stomach that something was horribly wrong in Denver. Maybe it really was that cold. I wouldn't know. We ran to Bright's house, not that it would've made much of a difference anyway. Laynie rang frantically on the doorbell. After the sixth ring, a Bright answered the door looking very annoyed.

            "What the hell…Laynie? Colin? What are you guys doing here?"

            "Get your keys and let's go to Denver," Laynie demanded. 

            "What? Why?"            

            Laynie tapped her foot impatiently, "Hello? Ephram Brown? Hit by a car? Remember?"

            Bright sighed, "Laynie, it's not going to do him any good if we go over there now. They're working on him and my dad said he'd call once he got any word on him. Then we can go up there to see him. He wouldn't exactly like it if you were stressing out over him would he?" I had to admit, that was pretty smart on Bright's part. Contrary to popular belief, Bright was actually really intellectual when he wanted to be. 

            Laynie's shoulders drooped, "But Bright," she whispered, "What if he dies?"

            Bright froze at the mention of death. He didn't like thinking about that either.

            "Please Laynie," I begged, "He won't die. Ephram's strong."

            "But…"

            "I have an idea," Amy said softly from behind her older brother, "Why don't you guys stay over tonight. If we get any news, we'll all be here for it." Reluctantly, we agreed. It couldn't hurt. Right?  Without another word, Bright ran up to his room and pulled sheets and pillows down to the living room and we all plopped onto them. I had to smile, though, at Bright's purple eye, courtesy of Ephram. 

            "Nice bruise," I whispered as we all lay down. 

            "Shut up, man," he elbowed me lightly. We pulled the covers around us, and said good-night. But I couldn't sleep. I don't know why Ephram affected me so much. I wasn't even supposed to know him or possibly like him, according to Bright and my friends. Or at least the friends of Colin the First. It was probably the fact that Ephram was real. He didn't bother tip-toeing around me like I was some fragile doll that would break at his touch. He didn't bother to soften any blows and gave reality to me straight up. That's what I liked about him. He wasn't going to bullshit me like the rest of the world. He was going to tell me the truth no matter how brutal it was. That's all I wanted, really, and I was almost positive Bright would understand and change his behavior, but I didn't know how to tell him. I tossed and turned all night, thinking of all the horrible things that could be going on at the hospital at that very moment. Finally frustrated, I sat up and looked around the room. Bright was breathing slowly and deeply next to me and Amy was oblivious to the world around her. I wasn't sure about Laynie, but I was willing to take my chances. Slowly, I got up from where I sat and cautiously walked to the kitchen. I opened the Abbott's refrigerator slowly and took out a water bottle. After several failed attempts to open it, I gave up and just sat down at the kitchen table.

            "Need some help?" Bright asked from the doorway. I looked up, surprised.

            "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

            He shook his head, "Nah, I couldn't really sleep anyway."

            "Oh." Bright smiled and reached over me, grabbing the forsaken water bottle. He opened it with ease and handed it over to me.

            "Thanks," I accepted the cool water and took a sip.

            "Anytime, dog. I know how it feels. I broke my arm once freshmen year. It was so hard to do everything I usually did." And for once, I felt like Bright was treating me normally, telling me things I was supposed to know but recounting the memories as if I just met him. We talked for a little more and I had this feeling that _this was what our old friendship used to be like. _This_ is what we used to act like together. Suddenly, in the middle of Bright's story about a basketball game we played in together where we made the winning assist and shot, the phone rang. We both jumped out of our chairs and raced for the living room. Laynie and Amy were both up in a second as well. Bright got to the phone first._

            "Hello?" he picked up, "Hey dad, Colin and Laynie are over. Any news yet? Yes, we were sleeping. Any news yet?" he sounded impatient. Bright's face clouded over, "Oh…is he? Do you know…oh I see. Oh…uh-huh…Yeah I'll tell them. Can we go? Okay…Okay…Thanks dad. Bye." He hung-up. 

            "Well?" I was the first to speak up. Bright slowly met our eyes. 

            "Guys…" he started. But he couldn't finish. 

            "Well?!"

**Thanks for the reviews:**

**Chibi-Chi**: You'll see, you'll see. Don't worry, it's not slash. It's not really even romance. Well, kinda.

**XX Schizoid: **Haha, I like those kind of fics too J

**LOTRgurl: **I don't remember why Laynie broke up with him, it was in the show. You'll see why he was late for curfew eventually. 

**Daemon X: **I know what you mean J 

**Monique: **Yeah, I know it's not his fault. They'll realize it with time.

**Wisk8er: ***grins sheepishly* Yeah they probably would get him off the middle of the road J

**Riley: **Yeah, I know. It's totally keeping me from updating this as much as I'd like to.

**Kellyerielf: **No, it's okay, I like it when they get hurt too. The dream? Oh yes, it was about Bright and me and stuff. I'll get into detail on a comment on your LJ. Evil dentists suck J

**Snoopy7: **Yeah, not many people can think very well when they're hyper. It must be some kind of disease or something. Thanks for the review!!****


End file.
